If your Seagate or Maxtor-brand product was sold directly to an Original Equipment Manufacturer (by contractual agreement with Seagate or pre-purchase Maxtor), the OEM holds all warranty rights and responsibilities for the system. The warranty is not transferable. If your product was sold to an authorized distributor, reseller, or retailer, they are the best resources to obtain warranty replacement.
OEMs and authorized distributors purchase products directly from Seagate through our world-wide sales offices. Distribution channel partners, such as resellers and retailers, typically purchase products from Seagate authorized distributors. End-users are supplied by resellers and retailers.
What is an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)?
A manufacturer that sells equipment to a reseller (or distributor) for re-branding or re-packaging. The term OEM refers to most any computer component that is re-packaged as part of a complete system. Some examples are personal computers, workstations, or file servers sold by Dell, Compaq, Gateway, and IBM for example.
Thus, an example of an OEM hard drive is a Barracuda 7200.11 300 GB hard drive that was originally purchased as part of a Dell PC, from Dell. That drive could be removed from the PC and later sold - again - as a separate product. The drive label still says "Seagate" on it, but it is actually Dell's original property, and any warranty must be claimed through Dell.
What is a Value Added Reseller - VAR, or System Integrator (S/I)?
A VAR or S/I is an organization that adds value to a system and resells it. For example, a reseller could purchase a CPU and peripherals from different vendors, graphics software from another, and package it all together as a specialized CAD system. VARs typically repackage products. They may include programs they have developed themselves. The terms VAR and ISV are often used interchangeably.
To obtain warranty service for your OEM product, please contact the system manufacturer or your place of purchase.
You can find additional information on our warranty policies at our Warranty Services Page.
